Zumba Fitness is one of the most popular fitness programs today. It began in 2001— developed by fitness and dance instructor Beto Perez—and has been gaining momentum ever since. As Zumba instructors and faithful Zumba enthusiasts like to say, “Zumba is not just a workout, it’s a way of life.” Zumba Fitness is much more than a great way to burn calories, lose fat, and improve your cardiovascular health (though one study showed that you can torch up to 730 calories in an hour-long Zumba class). After all, many different fitness programs could boast of those merits. Zumba Fitness is a unique workout routine because it fuses fitness, entertainment, and fun into an all-out dance celebration.

So what exactly is Zumba?

 Simply put, it’s a blend of rhythmic choreography with a Latin and world flavor that works your core and burns calories, all while you’re dancing to upbeat music. Participants often dress in colorful workout wear or cargo pants during Zumba classes. A sassy form of dance combinations, Zumba makes you forget you’re engaging in exercise. Instead, you’re caught up in the music, trying to remember the sequence of hip-shaking steps, and dripping in sweat while loving every minute of it. Before you know it, you’ve danced your way through forty-five minutes of intense cardio.

Zumba is also unique because participants range in age from newborns to seniors. Classes are offered for childrenand seniors. Zumba and its unique blend of fun and exercise truly offer something for everyone. And as the program continues to change and expand, its popularity is only growing!

Can Fitness Be Fun and Effective?

 With its slogan, “Ditch the Workout—Join the Party!™” Zumba has taken the fitness world by storm and brought fun back into the gym, but is it actually an effective form of exercise? That’s what fitness experts at the American Council on Exercise wanted to know, so they asked researchers John Porcari and Mary Luettgen of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse to find out. Specifically, this Workout Watchdog® team wanted to test the average exercise intensity and energy output during a typical Zumba class, so they recruited nineteen women, ages eighteen to twentytwo. The women were healthy and experienced in Zumba, but were all at different levels of fitness. They used monitors to track the participants’ heart rates, oxygen consumption, and calories burned.

Here’s what they discovered:

 »Zumba is a total body workout, especially good for strengthening the core and improving flexibility because of the hip movements.

 »Zumba burns more calories than cardio kickboxing, step aerobics, hooping, and power yoga. Participants in the study burned between seven and twelve calories per minute.

 »No matter what your fitness level—in poor shape or quite fit—Zumba provides a great cardio workout. All of the women in the study, fit or not, were working out in the heart rate zone that improves cardio health.

 »You don’t have to get every step just right in order to get a good workout.

 So, yes it’s a party, but it’s a party that’s going to kick your butt!

The Many Benefits of Zumba

We know that Zumba provides a great cardiovascular workout. It has also been known to help its participants lose unwanted pounds, tone up, and have fun all at the same time. But, there are other benefits as well—benefits Beto nev

Take one faithful participant in West Yorkshire, England, named Diane West. She explained to The Telegraph that each week, “I see a group of tired, ordinary women come to life. Whether it’s the music or the moves, the change is undeniable. There’s a J-Lo or Beyoncé inside all these women—it’s total, powerful, mind-blowing energy.”

 And Diane isn’t the only Zumba faithful to describe the workout as empowering, energizing, and mind-blowing. It seems that many people who lack self-confidence are able to “come to life” once the music begins and they join their friends in an hour of dance.

Zumba has become “the place to be” and “the place to belong.” Many participants are finding that friendship and support are two of the biggest benefits. Angie Williams Johnson is a forty-six-year-old fitness enthusiast in Southern Indiana who has been working out for about eight years. But it wasn’t until she started attending Zumba classes three years ago that she became consistent with her workouts and actually wanted to go to the gym. “I keep coming back because it is fun,” she said, “and because the others who do it motivate me, too.”

They cheer each other on. They celebrate every pound lost. They give hugs when someone is facing a challenge. They laugh with each other as they try to learn new choreography. They bond over Latin music every single class.

Feeling Good with Zumba

 When a person engages in certain types of exercise, his or her body releases endorphins. These “feelgood” chemicals are known for giving runners what is often referred to as a “runner’s high.” And Zumba participants are experiencing that same feel-good state in an equally dramatic way.

United Kingdom-based Zumba instructor Nicola Swindle told that a Zumba class exercises both your endorphins and your muscles. “I focused on the health and fitness benefits of the class to begin with,” she explained, noting that Zumba is exercise in disguise. “But now I’m beginning to think it’s Prozac in disguise as well.”

It’s the only real fitness program where most people taking it are not taking it for the fitness benefits. “They’re taking it for the happiness and joy that they feel while they’re doing it, and the fitness is just a result of this.”